In a move that deals another blow to the Paris landmark after an embarrassing jewelry heist in October, workers at the Louvre Museum voted today to strike over working conditions and other complaints.
The CFDT union said that the vote was taken at a meeting of 400 workers this morning and that they decided to strike for the day.
Labor leaders said that the strike vote was unanimous. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the work stoppage will last longer than one day. The Louvre is closed on Tuesdays. Employees could meet again on Wednesday to decide whether to stay out or go back to work.
Striking workers with flags, banners and placards blocked the museum’s iconic glass pyramid entrance. The world’s most-visited museum didn’t open as scheduled and turned people away.
An updated notice on the Louvre’s website said that it was “exceptionally” closed for the day and that ticket holders would be reimbursed.
The strike vote followed talks last week between labor unions and government officials including Culture Minister Rachida Dati.
Labor leaders said that the talks had not alleviated their concerns about staffing and financing for the museum that welcomes millions of visitors each year. According to Alexis Fritche, General Secretary of the culture wing of the CFDT union, “Visiting the museum has become an obstacle course.”
In their notice of open-ended strike action to Dati last week, the CFDT, CGT and Sud unions said the Louvre was in “crisis,” with insufficient resources and “increasingly deteriorated working conditions.”
In their strike notice, the unions said that employees are suffering from “an ever-increasing workload” and “contradictory instructions” that prevent them from carrying out their duties properly.Union requests include hiring more permanent staff, particularly in security and visitor services and improving working conditions.
The unions also oppose a 45 percent ticket price increase from mid-January for non-EU tourists. The hike is meant to help finance renovations.
Concerns Exposed By Louvre Heist
For employees, the brazen daylight jewel heist exposed long-standing concerns that crowding and thin staffing are undermining security and working conditions at the Louvre.
Police arrests subsequently got the entire four-man team alleged to made off with $102 million worth of jewels. The gang used a basket lift to reach the Louvre’s facade, forced a window, smashed display cases and fled with pieces of the French crown jewels.
A Senate inquiry released last week said the thieves escaped with barely 30 seconds to spare and pointed fingers of blame at broken cameras, outdated equipment, understaffed control rooms and poor coordination that initially sent police to the wrong location.
In a statement, the CFDT said that employees want more staffing for security and to welcome visitors, improved working conditions, stable long-term budgets for the Louvre and leadership that “truly listens to staff.”
Yvan Navarro of the CGT union complained that staff numbers have continually decreased while visitor numbers have increased.
“People come to Paris to visit the museums. So the visitor numbers go up, the tariffs and the prices go up, because everything is becoming more expensive but the salaries and the numbers of staffers don’t go up so obviously you reach a point like today, a day of anger.”
Yvan Navarro
Meanwhile, the Culture Ministry said yesterday that it has tasked Philippe Jost, who oversaw reconstruction of Notre Dame Cathedral after its 2019 fire, with a mission to propose a deep reorganization of the Louvre following the findings of an administrative inquiry.
It said that Jost will offer recommendations by the end of February. He will work with Louvre Director Laurence des Cars, who previously described the heist as a “terrible failure.”
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